Letter to the Editor: Abuse in churches

By WILLIAM SHARPCastle Dale

Editor:

Catholic sex abuse is really taking up alot of room in the liberal media lately.

While it is true the sex scandal in the Catholic Church has gained a lot of attention the fact that the Catholic church is among the lowest of churches when it comes to abuse, is often overlooked. For various reasons (most likely the Catholic churches opposition to abortion and homosexuality) the liberal media has made it common to believe that clergy sexual abuse is an exclusively Catholic problem that does not happen in other churches. However, the significance of clergy sexual abuse is acknowledged by the denominational leaders of all Christian churches.

Pedophilia (sexual abuse by adults of pre-pubertal children) is lower among Catholic clergy than among the general male population.

According to one national estimate four percent of all churches have experienced an allegation of sexual abuse. And Utah is no exception, where Mormons account for about 60 percent of the population. The rate of such abuse remains consistent amongst Mormons, paralleling the rest of society.

Despite headlines focusing on the priest pedophile problem in the Roman Catholic Church, most American churches being hit with child sexual-abuse allegations are Protestant. It isn't likely you will hear about this from the liberal news media, but it has been published to the web in numerous studies etc.